Steering and stabilizing system for a heeling yacht



Dec. 13, 1955 HlLL 2,726,621

STEERING AND STABILIZING SYSTEM FOR A HEEL-INC YACHT Original Filed May 15, 1951 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patentfi STEERING AND STABILIZING SYSTEM" FOR A HEELING YACHT Myron Francis Hill, Westport, .Conn.

Divided and this application September 10, 21952,.Srial No. 315,479

4 Claims. 01. 114-144 This application is a division of applic'ants co-pending application Serial No. 226,498, filed May 15, 1951'.

This invention relates tov a steering gear for sail-' boats.

In-small-sail boats the drag of the rudderiis an important factormsince when the boat is heeled ,oversto port and the rudder itself is turned to port it turnsdownward as well. This creates an upward thrust by the water tending to..raise the stern and depress .thenbowaof the boat. However, when the rudder is swung to starboard while the boat-is on the port tack-,the' stern-is depressed and .the bow is raised by the. thrustwof the water; In both cases the forward speed of. the boatis slowed down considerably.

Previous efforts to provide rudders which can 'be maintained plumb or vertical while "the-boat is heeled over have resulted in structures involving outboard gearing. These gears cause excess drag or they entrap seaweed and other floating material. Other mechanisms such as those in use in submarines are entirely too cumbersome and expensive for a small boat.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a mechanism entirely above the waterline which is light in weight and is inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of my invention is to combine change speed gears and lever action so as to impart the eifect of a long handled fulcrum. Even in a small boat considerable power is required to swing a rudder to the vertical position when the boat is heeled over and in many cases the power required is much beyond that of a sailor.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a mechanism which can be set in the required position by a push while leaving the hands free to handle ropes, lines and the tiller.

Further objects will be apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. I is a rear elevation partly in section of the clutch, lever and gear mechanism to hold the rudder in a vertical position when the boat heels over,

Fig. II is a front elevation partly in section showing the mechanism of Fig. I except the mounting bracket,

Fig. III is a sectional view of the rudder and rudder post taken on line III-III of Fig. V,

Fig. IV is a side elevation partly in section of a detail of the tiller quadrant,

Fig. V is a longitudinal section of the rudder mechanism taken on line V--V of Fig. I mounted on a rear section of the boat, and

Fig. V1 is a plan view of the tiller.

The rudder 54, Figs. III and V, is mounted on a rudder post 53 and is free to rotate in a rudder tube 59 provided with a shoulder 68. The tiller 64 has a jaw or forked end 63 which is connected to the top of the rudder post 58 and is held in position by a bolt 63a. Also on the bolt 63a there are two rollers 63b, Fig. HI, one on each side of the rudder post 58. The tiller 2-1 64has a tongue 65 engagingteethjon a quadrant..64A secured on an arm60, Figs. IV andfV} and the left. end. in Fig..V the arm. 60, is. rigidlyconnected to the rudder; tube .59 and carries the weight of the rudder, .IhClIlJd-r der postand the tiller 64. The rudder post 58i'andtube. 59 are shown in a rudder well. 56in Figs... III 'andV between a deck 77 and a bottom. portion 18'of the boat. The arm 60 is journalled in a bracket 61A and=a toothed bracket and its journal 75a secured on the deck.77 at- 76. At the extreme right end of the arm 60 there is provided a lever or plate 78 keyed or pinned thereto as-ushown in Fig. V. This .plate78carries gears .74 and 72 which are connectedtogether and are journalled in position by a short shaft 73. The teethof .the gear-74 are constantly in mesh 'withthe teeth on'the .bracket75."

In Fig. I on the rear face of-the bracket 78 are shown two gibs 71A rigidly connected thereto and between the gibs there is provided a toothed plate 71'which is free to slide therebetween. Thelever 78*also hasan elongated hole 80A therein for .a shaft 80and this holeis just long enough 'to permit .the disengagement of the. teeth in the plate 71'jfrom"the teeth'of the gcar 72' as shown in Fig.1.. Atits other end .the shaft 80'is rigidlyconnected to the control lever. 62 and at its bottom end the lever 62'has. shoulders 81 and 8112 which 'nor-. mally rest against. blocks 82"and 6221,..Fig... IL A stiff spring 83 with one end biased in the, boss 'of'"'the lever 78and-the'other endin the'bottom of the' lever 62 nor-" mally holds the lever up so --thatthe"teeth of the-plate" 71* mesh-with the-teeth in the--gear--72'!-'- In operation when the lever 62 is moved to the right, Fig. I, the shoulder 81a abuts against the block 82a so that the shaft 80 and plate 71 will be adjusted downwardly to disengage the teeth of the plate 71 from the gear 72. The gear 74 is free to roll on the teeth of the bracket 75 and at this point the shaft 80 has reached the bottom of the elongated hole 80A so that further movement to the right by the lever 62 will cause the lever 78 to move to the right as indicated by the dashed line 78a in Fig. I. After swinging the rudder to the desired position, the lever 62 may be released whereby the spring 83 will then force the lever and the toothed block 71 upward so that the gears become engaged to hold the rudder in position. The swinging of the lever 78 turns the arm 60 around on its axis and sets the rudder as desired. When the arm 60 rotates on its axis the tiller 64 also rotates or travels around the axis of the arm 60. For this reason the quadrant 64A had to be mounted on arm 60. The projection 65 on the tiller acts like a tooth and has to engage the rack teeth on the quadrant. This tooth and the teeth have to be radially in line with each other and mounting the quadrant 64A on the arm 60 accomplishes this function.

At the top of the block or lever 78 there is provided a plumb indicator 84 freely suspended from a pin 85. This is of considerable assistance in determining the position of the rudder and it is of just as much help in determining the vertical position of the rudder as the tiller would indicate in showing the angle of turn of the rudder during steering.

The relation between the teeth on the biock 71 and the gear 72 and the teeth on the bracket 75 and the gear 74 is important. Other constructions have been considered such as having the teeth on the block 71 engage the same gear teeth in engagement with the teeth on the bracket 75, but this was not satisfactory. The teeth had to be much larger to be durable and prevent being sheared off. Larger teeth means coarser adjustment of the rudder from one angle to another to meet variable conditions of the heeling of the boat and they require more power to operate and the mechanism is cumbersome and heavy. In Fig. I the leverage action of the shoulder 81a against the block 82a and the pin 80 and lever 62 is of great assistance in disengaging the teeth. Also the freedom of movement between the block 71 and shaft 80 in the elongated hole 80A in the lever 78 is necessary to permit quick and easy re-engagement of the teeth of the gear 72 with the teeth on the block 71. By having this freedom of movement the lever 62 first disengages the gear teeth and then moves the lever 78 to tilt the rudder. After tilting the rudder this freedom of movement permits the teeth to reengage and then locks the gears and rudder in position.

While I have shown my steering mechanism mounted on the deck and the rudder post and tube in a rudder box or between the deck and the bottom of the boat I do not limit my invention to these details. Obviously the rudder can be mounted outboard and the arm 60 mounted on a bracket on the rear transom or on a bracket extending up from the bottom of the boat or on any other means that may prove feasible.

What I claim is:

1. A steering gear for a sailboat having a rudder and a rudder post comprising a tube mounted in the boat and surrounding the rudder post, a tiller secured to said post, an arm secured to said tube, means mounted on the sailboat to support and journal said arm, a lever secured to said arm and having a toothed portion thereon, a toothed member attached to said sailboat, a slidable toothed member on said lever, said lever engaging said first-mentioned toothed member, and resilient means coacting with the slidable toothed member to cause the teeth of said slidable toothed member to engage the toothed portion on said lever.

2. A steering gear according to claim 1, in which a 4 freely hanging plumb lever is provided mounted on said lever.

3. A steering gear according to claim 1, in which a toothed quadrant is provided mounted on said arm and a projection is provided on said tiller to engage said toothed quadrant.

4. A steering gear for a sailboat having a rudder and a rudder post supporting said rudder comprising a tube surrounding said rudder post, a tiller secured to said post, an arm secured to said tube, a boss supporting said arm secured to said sailboat, a gear, a bracket mounted on said sailboat, said arm passing through said bracket and said bracket having gear teeth in mesh with said gear, a second gear rigidly attached to said References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,356,300 McIntyre Oct. 19, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS 174,485 Germany Sept. 22, 1900 312,809 Italy Nov. 25. 1933 

